April 11, 2025
Cycle day 18 - Vavuniya to Anuradhapura
Vavuniya to Anuradhapura = 59km (Total distance on this trip so far = 1156km)
Weather= Low of 24 with a high of 32 degrees. Anotherstrong south westerly wind today about 20-25kph. It is looking like this is the prevailing wind until we leave (basically the whole country has it!)
Accommodation= Sun Hill tourist rest = 3455 rupees ($19.05 AUD)
I didn't take alot of photos today but Neil did. We watched last nights game between Geelong vs Adelaide and it was a great game to watch as Geelong won. Last time we watched a Geelong game while cycling was last year in our $250 per night basic hotel in Halls Creek in Western Australia where Geelong got annihilated while they played in Darwin! At least they won last night.
This morning we left just after 7am and we turned up our street to go to the main road and there is a stream of women single file, most carrying offerings and all wearingbrightly coloured saris. At the head of the file was a few men changing away following a tuk tuk. So maybe the festivities have begun!
It was busy going through town as it was school drop off time. One thing I have noticed is during this time there are alot of police officers manning the pedestrian crossings and signalling the traffic or monitoring intersections and roundabouts. People still don't strictly follow the road rules but it is alot easier to get through when these people are around!
On the edge of town Neil saw the remains of a Political billboard (remember they had their elections during October and November) so we think Albo has a member sitting here in Sri Lanka!
Back on the A9 with everybody else. At this point in the day there were alot more people going northbound as the public holiday starts tomorrow. We see alot more fireworks for sale along the road side, so clearly they take this New Year Celebrations seriously!
Today we saw 2 of these pass us going North – clearly they are great stackers
We don't see alot of Sri Lanka cyclists but every now and then we do – this guy was lucky and going North bound with a raging tailwind –
...ah one can only dream of a tailwind! Onwards we slog. I must admit it is a strong wind but no where near like anything in Australia as in Australia you are constantly out in the elements with most of the time absolutely nothing to buffer those winds (unless you are cycle touring up and down Elizabeth street in Melbourne CBD – the highrises will offer protection from the wind!) Here there is always either a building, jungle, bushes or shops that will offer protection so when you feel the wind you know it is only until you reach the next tree line which is not far away!
Just before the 40km mark we pull over to have a cuppa and cake at a local cafe. Our tea comes from a Nescafe machine and the sponges are just plain but nice. The tea was sweet and it had a lovely subtle cardamon flavour – oh I lurve the flavoured teas here! Even Neil liked the tea!
Back on the road our southbound traffic with us has picked up as we get closer to Anuradhapura and a few kilometers out we see the cyclist that was northbound earlier and he and I chat until the road parts – we go left and he goes right.
We get to the outskirts of the main shopping drag and we pull over just to make sure we are on the right road and yip we are ok. However the traffic has come to a stand still, nothing is moving
Being on bicycles it is easy for us to manouvre through this and I must remember when back at home not to slip down the sides of traffic like we do here (everyone does it that can fit – believe me I have seen an impatient bus driver try to squeeze through a gap no bigger than a small car size!) LOL this is a habit I will have to shake.
So we push our way back in, because we can and it is expected. Now believe it or not this traffic stopped because some ‘effin tuk tuk can't park and had its rear end sticking out in the lane! Once past all that the traffic begins to flow again. Going through this long stretch through town was hard, you had to have your wits about you. Being a celebratory weekend this place was teaming with people, pedestrians and vehicles all vying for space. We are no exception. A few pushy car drivers which try to take you on but you have to force or hold your line and basically play chicken with them! One car did threatened to nudge me waiting impatiently to cross the traffic so fortunately my left foot was unclipped and out comes my foot with my cleated shoes and just a gentle clip with my cleat on his front fender to remind him to back off and wait until I am pass! Basically cyclist can easily get through this sort of traffic as if there is a small gap then we are the only ones that can get through it! So we progress through this stream alot faster than the buses, trucks, tuk tuks and cars.
The only time we have to stop is when there is no gap for us or the pedestrian crossing. We do tend to stop if the bus in front of us is letting passengers off.
We find our home stay and it is nice. It will be a full place tonight and it is right next to a lake or tank and we are hoping it is quiet! It is not far from the main road but far enough that you can't hear any noise from traffic. It is a big room.
We stay here tomorrow for a rest day.
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 507 km (315 miles)
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